ARTICLES ABOUT OLIVE OIL BY DATE - PAGE 3

Q: Can you recommend an autumn appetizer and drink pairing? A: Even though summer has not quite ended, I'm already mourning the end of tomato season and the sheer bounty of produce available at the market. But the beauty of the Hudson Valley is its variety. A new crop is almost in bloom. Italians have a love of mushrooms. They have for generations. During autumn in Emilia-Romagna and Piemonte, local gatherers and foragers scour the alpine valleys picking edible fungi with a Zen-like deliberateness.

The farmers market was practically bursting with vegetables of every hue on a recent weekend visit. It made shopping for dinner so easy, as everything seemed like it would go together. I zeroed in on eggplant as the star, then figured what would go with it. How about those bulb onions and those neon green Melrose peppers? Aren't they early this year? An herb to enliven the whole - oregano would be a change of pace - then all I needed was a protein. I settled on pork, but chicken would do well.

In the middle of the day I drove to the middle of nowhere, where I had to wait until midafternoon. If I'd had a stack of novels I might have read one. If I had the ability, I might have written one. Instead, I went shopping. Middle Nowhere has a massive grocery, stocked with everything. I had planned to grill flatbread. I had a recipe that called for slicing and salting and marinating and grilling eggplant. It called for crisping onions and cracking olives and chopping parsley and crumbling feta and heaping the mix onto flatbread.

For lovers of seasonal Spanish tapas, one particularly elusive specialty is a simple dish of fried padron peppers (pimientos de padron). The real thing is still very seasonal and often hard to find around here (as Calvin Trilllin bemoaned in his book "Feeding A Yen"). But many restaurants have been turning to the next best thing: Japanese shisito peppers, which are now in season at local supermarkets, especially those that cater to Koreans, Japanese and restaurant chefs. Last weekend we picked up a pound for $1.99 at Joong Boo Market (3333 N. Kimball Ave.)

Want to reduce calories before the summer bathing suit season but still enjoy foods that satisfy hunger and please your taste buds? Eat your salad first, as the main dish, filling up on the lower-calorie, healthier-for-you vegetables before you're tempted to eat those less-desirable dishes containing more fat and less fiber. But not any salad: fattoush. Fattoush is a popular Lebanese salad of pita bread and greens that accompanies many meals in the Arab world. The fattat, or flatbread base, fills the belly as you chow down on the flavor-filled salad of various vegetables.

If it's your first visit to Paris, you must take in the opera. It's required. If you elbow along Avenue de l'Opera and mount the steps of the ornate Opera Garnier, you will face ridicule. The old Opera houses the ballet. The new Opera houses the opera. Across town. If you dash to the Metro and rumble from old to new, minutes before curtain for "Carmen," you will be mildly frantic. Followed by mildly late. If you arrive late, you will be directed to the penalty pen, where the oversize drama onstage is reduced to a small image on screen.

* Commission withdraws ban on olive oil jugs in restaurants * Farm chief says proposals lacked consumer support * Move follows accusations of interference by Brussels By Charlie Dunmore BRUSSELS, May 23 (Reuters) - The European Commission has decided to tear up new rules on how restaurants should serve olive oil less than a week after unveiling them, following widespread ridicule and accusations of unwanted interference. Last week, the Commission said restaurants would be banned from serving oil to diners in refillable glass jugs or dipping bowls from next year.

While it's common these days to find focaccia topped with all kinds of stuff, I like mine to be simple, herby bread with the emphasis on salt and olive oil. I may allow for one or two additions besides the sea salt, olive oil and herbs, but that's it. You may feel differently, and that's just fine. You can use this recipe as a base for all your favorite focaccia toppings. But just for today, try it plain and simple with a glass of deep red wine and maybe a wedge of cheese on the side.

Q: Do you have a good easy recipe for ramps? What are ramps, anyway? A: Glad you asked. Ramps are wild baby leeks that grow exclusively between the Atlantic and the Mississippi from Canada to the Carolinas. A member of the Allium genus, ramps resemble a scallion with broader leaves. They taste a little bit garlicky and a little bit savory, a welcome taste of sweetness after a cold and dreary winter. Ramps are the first sign that spring is here, so I am never happier than when I see ramps for the first time each season.

* EU bans refillable oil jugs, bowls from tables from Jan. 1 * Commission says move will protect consumers, boost hygiene * Critics say idea proves EU bureaucrats are out of touch By Charlie Dunmore BRUSSELS, May 18 (Reuters) - Critics ridiculed European Union bureaucrats on Saturday for taking time off fighting the euro zone's debt crisis to impose strict new rules on how restaurants serve olive oil. From Jan. 1, 2014, eateries will be banned from serving oil to diners in small glass jugs or dipping bowls, and forced instead to use pre-sealed, non-refillable bottles that must be disposed of when empty.